Composition of matter for use in extracting vegetable fibers.



NITED STATES PATENT FFICYE.

COMPOSITION OF MATTER FOR USE IN EXTRACIING VEGETABLE FIBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,154, dated October3, 1899.

Application filed June 1, 1897. Serial No. 638,938. (No specimens.)

["0 all whom zit may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM WARBURTON, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain and Ireland, and a resident of Adswood Lane, East, Stockport,county of Chester, England, have invented a certain new Composition ofMatter for Use in Extracting Vegetable Fibers, of which the following isa specification.

My said invention relates to a new compo-' sition of matter treating thevarious fibrous plants of the nettle family commonly known as ramie,rhea, china-grass, or other similar fibrous vegetable products for thepurpose of extracting fibers therefrom. Acids of various kinds have beenused heretofore for such apurpose but in practice they are found toreduce the strength and to otherwise damage the fibers.

I subject such fibrous material to the action of an emulsion or solutioncontaining carbonate of soda in combination with'soap and petroleum andbicarbonate of soda (or an equivalent quantity of carbonate of ammonia)in a closed vessel or keir under steam-pressure.

I prefer to treat the vegetable material in the form of ribbons, such asare usually found in commerce. These are for convenience of handlinglaid in baskets of galvanized wire,

which are then placed in an ordinary high-' pressure keir, such as iscommonly found in bleach-works. Sufficient water is run into the keir tocover the material. Meanwhile in a separate receptacle I prepare aliquid mixture as follows: For everyhundred parts, by weight, of fibrousmaterial to be treated I usually take seventeen parts of pure alkali,seven parts of soap, eleven parts of petroleum, ten parts of bicarbonateof soda. These are mixed with water in the proportion of three hundredparts, by weight, to form a solution, emulsion, or mixture which willreadily flow into the keir. By pure alkali I mean the form of sodiumcarbonate (Na OO known commercially under that name and which containsabout fifty-eight per cent. .of sodium oxid, (Na O.) For the bicarbonateof soda (NaHOO an equal weight of commercial carbonate of ammonia, whichordinarily consists chiefly of NILJ IOO with NH,,NH CO and a trace of(NH )2CO may be substituted. This mixture is run into the keircontaining the submerged fibrous material, whereupon the keir is closed,steam is admitted, and the whole is kept under steam-pressure for asuitable time, depending to some extent on the nature or kind ofmaterial being treated. For the ordinary ramie ribbons of commerce Ifind that if it is subjected to the action of the above-describedmixture under a steam-pressure of fifty to fifty-five pounds per squareinch for four to five hours it is sufficient. The proportions of purealkali and bicarbonate of soda are subject to variation, accord ing tothe nature and origin of the material to be treated. Some materialsrequire more or less pure alkali, (with a corresponding diminution oraugmentation of the bicarbon ate of soda.) For example, in treatingramie grown on a limestone soil I should use ten parts only of purealkali and seventeen parts of bicarbonate of soda, (or of carbonate ofam monia.) The proportions of soap and petroleum remain practically thesame in any case. After such treatment it will be found that the gummyor resinous constituents of the fibrous material and also the skin aredissolved, decomposed, or altered in such a Way that subsequent Washingwith pure water suffices to eliminate them from the fiber. Thissubsequent washing may be accomplished by hand or with the aid ofmachinery or mechanical appliances of various kinds, as will be wellunderstood by those conversant with the treatment of fibrous materialsWithout further description.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

A composition of matter for use in extracting vegetable matters andconsisting of pure alkali, soap, petroleum and bicarbonate of sodasubstantially as defined and in the proportions set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM WARBURTON.

Witnesses:

JOHN HALL, A. T. WHITELOW.

